Friday, 27 March 2015

Ottoman Time Warp

Yörük Köyü is a priceless village ten
kilometers east of Safranbolu.Köyü means village. I would like to say Yörük is magically hidden
from the main road but that would be a fairy tale.What is real is that you travel back in time
to a village that is wall-to-wall Ottoman houses in stately decay.At first you think nothing has changed. Then
you notice the satellite dishes.

The
name Yörük means “walkers”, which is very appropriates since it was populated
by Turkish nomads who migrated west from the Central Asian homeland over
centuries.Now as we near the end of our
trip, it is time to review some of the significant facts about how the Turkey
has affected the whole world.

Turkish Impact

Main Street

The
Turks were nomadic, warrior tribes that invented pants, which
were better suited to a horse riding culture.They migrated west into Persia and introduced trousers to Persian
culture. At the Istanbul Archaeology Museums we saw a freeze with
tunic wearing Greeks under Alexander the Great.At first, the Greeks derided pants worn by the Persians.After Alexander conquered Persia, he promoted
Persian clothes and culture.New ideas
were spread back to the west.Today,
pants have won out!The Turks score
another impact.

The
Greek conquest had a long lasting influence on Turkey, providing many of the
tourist sights of today -- not to forget the large Greek population until 1923.The reason for the central role of
Turkey is that Istanbul and Ephesus served as the terminus of the Silk Trade Routes.That was a
major impact!

Not Topkapi Palace

﻿﻿﻿﻿In
the Topkapi Palace Paradise post we discovered that the Turks
are not from Turkey.They came
from the Central Asia.The Turks are
believed to have originated from the Xiongnu, also known as the "Northern Barbarians"
– the bane of the Han Dynasty and cause for the Great Wall!

Narrow Side Street

Western
Turkish is part of the Turkic language group. This includes 110 million people —
Azeri, Turkmen, Kazakh, Tartar, and Uzbek — who originated from Central
Asia.Even Japanese and Korean, Finnish
and Hungarian are distantly related to the Turkic languages.

﻿

Ottoman Ceiling Tile

The
Turks migrated west and conquered Anatolia from the Greek-speaking Byzantine Empire.Then they conquered the
only part of the empire that was left, Constantinople, in 1453.Greek and Roman scholars and their books
emigrated from the centre of Ancient Greek and Roman learning.This in turn accelerated the Renaissance in
the West.

﻿

Dusk in Yörük

After the Turks conquered Constantinople in 1453, their dynasty became known as the
Ottomans (Osman in Turkish) and ruled for 624 years.This huge empire had a profound effect on all
their territories from Baghdad to Budapest and from Mecca to Algiers.However, Ottoman control of the Silk Roads
led Europeans to search for new routes to the Far East.This led to improvements in naval power and
navigation, the discovery of America and the path to Asia, not to mention the
conquest of most of the world.Major
impact!

End of Day

There
are very few locals today but it is winter and apparently the people work elsewhere
and only come here in the summer.So Yörük
is fitting name for a nomadic people that are still "walking
around".In the past, they moved
seasonally with their flocks of sheep and goats to take advantage of better
pasture.Today they use trucks to move
animals between pastures.

Friday, 20 March 2015

Ottoman Obsession

Ottoman Obsession from Ring Road

Safranbolu has many Ottoman Delights. In fact, it is famous for both its Turkish
Delight desserts and its timber-framed Ottoman houses.Moreover, you can even sleepover in an
Ottoman bedroom such as Raşitler Bağ
Evi.Another reason to come here is
to visit one of the surrounding towns, such as Yörük, which is stocked with
even more impressive Ottoman houses.

Verdant Views

Sprinkled Fields

The old city was built in a deep valley for protection
from winter winds.What we had not
expected were the gorgeous views of Ottoman houses sprinkled with green
fields from the ridge road that encircles high above the old town.

﻿﻿

Ottoman Obsession

The arc-shaped road starts east from the
Sadri Artunc circle in the Baglar district as Çelik Gulersoy Caddessi, changes
names to Kaya Erdem Cd., back to Çelik Gulersoy Cd. to Celal Bayar Cd. We are
giving you the names so you can find the route on Google maps. Don't worry about the name changes as you'll be too busy looking at the views to even notice the street signs.

﻿

Near Hidirlik Hill

It will be easy to
follow the curving road south to Hidirlik Hill.While there are good views from the park, our favourite views can be
found along the way by parking wherever we could find a wide enough shoulder
area.﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

Mandatory Mosque

Çarşi

﻿﻿﻿

Safranbolu was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site
mainly because the old town, called Çarşi, is very well preserved.If you have visited Istanbul or Bursa, you
will have already seen the name Çarşi (pronounced char shi) because it means
bazaar.The old city housed places where
many goods were manufactured and sold.

﻿

Man Stop

There has been a settlement in Safranbolu since the
Hittites, one of the Proto-Indo-European (aka Aryan) tribes that was first to
migrate west from the Caucasus region about 3600 years ago! ﻿

Kervan Sarai

It later became an Ottoman caravan stopover on
the route from Istanbul to the east. For that reason there are Kervan Sarai (caravanserai) in Safranbolu. In fact this one is still a roadside inn. ﻿
﻿

Çarşi Konak

While we
think of the konaks (mansions) as Ottoman, they are descendants of Hittite
architecture.According to Ibrahim
Canbula, this building technique dates back as far as 7500 years
ago!!!Some of the key elements are
beautiful stone wall on the ground story, bright white stucco interspersed with
wood beams above that, and overhanging wood-framed windows.The interiors, as in Raşitler Bağ
Evi, are even more
spectacular.

﻿

Left Side

Right Side

﻿﻿

Cinci Hamami

The elaborate, multi-domed building is Cinci Hamami.Built in 1645, it's hard to believe that
this Turkish bath is still in use.But
it was more than a place for a bath or massage.This was where you caught up on the latest gossip or closed business
deals.

Shelling Nuts

Preparing Tourist Crafts?

﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

Looking the Other Way

Leaving the Main Square

Yemeniciler

Safranbolu specialized in leather goods in Ottoman
times.Yemeniciler is an old guild
bazaar where shoes called yemeni were made.Built in 1661, it consists of an oval of 48 wooden shops that now sell
tourist souvenirs.

﻿

Beautiful Fountain

From the 13th century to the advent of the railway in the
early 20th century, Safranbolu was an important caravan station on the main
East–West trade route.This not only
brought great prosperity, Safranbolu had a great influence on urban development
over a large area of the Ottoman Empire.

Demircilar Street?

Iztuzu Mehmet Pasha Mosque

﻿﻿
﻿﻿
﻿﻿

﻿﻿
﻿

Iztuzu Mehmet Pasha Mosque

﻿Down the hill, is a square shaped mosque topped with a bowl-shaped
dome.Iztuzu Mehmet Pasha Mosque was
built entirely of cut stone by Grand Vizier Mehmet Pasha in 1796.He was Grand Vizier (prime minister) three times, very
unusual.

The railroad was built 10 km west of Safranbolu to service
the new iron industry. As a result, Karabük became the main administrative and
commercial centre. The net result was
the diminution of Safranbolu, which resulted in the preservation of the
historical centre.

Saffron Cure

﻿Saffron

But why did this town become a major stop on the caravan
routes?If you thought the name of
Safranbolu sounds like saffron then you are right.Bolu is derived from polis,
the Greek word for city.

This area was a major saffron growing and selling
centre.While Iran produces 90% of saffron today, it was
originally native to Greece and Turkey.Why is saffron so expensive? It is one of the world's most costly spices
because saffron comes from the slender stigma (flower) part of the plant.

Little One

But why was saffron so esteemed?Sure, it is an extremely powerful dye but
that would hardly drive up the price.It
was esteemed for its use in perfumes and medicine.This reputation was enhanced by history.During
his Asian campaigns, Alexander
the Great used Persian saffron in his infusions, rice, and baths as
a curative for battle wounds.Alexander's troops imitated the practice from the Persians and brought
saffron-bathing to Greece.In Ancient Egypt,
Cleopatra – who was Greek by the way, a descendant of one of
Alexander’s generals – used saffron in her baths so that lovemaking would be
more pleasurable.

The 14th-century Black Death caused the demand for
saffron-based medications to peak, and Europe imported large quantities of
threads via Venetian and Genoan ships from Mediterranean lands. ﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

Kaymakamlar Museum

﻿﻿

Kaymakamlar Muze on Hidirlik Yokusu Sokak was the konak
(mansion) of a military commander.In
fact the name is derived from Kaim Makam, or lieutenant colonel, the rank of
the owner.It offers a pamphlet for a
self-guided tour but the information provided is very sparse.The museum could be better by explaining more
about Ottoman culture and make us connect with the people.

The Men's Room

In fact, our impression was that Raşitler Bağ
Evi is more beautiful than this house. The main plus of the museum are the mannequins that depict the typical use of the rooms as well as the dress of the inhabitants.

View Distorted by Window

While it is a large building, it had to house an extended
family.All rooms were used for living,
working, and dining.The rooms have a
minimum of fixed furniture other than a divan along a wall.

The Women's Room

The most interesting artefact is a whirling
closet that enabled the women to serve food to men from outside the family in
another room without being seen!The
rooms served as bedrooms at night when the beds are rolled out of the closets
onto the floors.

The richly carved chestnut and pine wood
ceilings are also very special.

To end on a sweet note, Safranbolu is famous for is sweet
(helva) morsels (lokum).﻿﻿

Don't Look - You'll Just Get Hungry

﻿﻿

Halva (helva in Turkish) is Arabic for
dessert or sweet.The delicious one we
grew up with is the nut butter type made from tahini (sesame) paste that may
also contain pieces of nuts like pistachios.It often comes in chocolate or vanilla flavours.

﻿﻿﻿﻿

Have some lokum

﻿

Turkish Delight in Turkish is called lokum, which means
morsel or mouthful.This
contagious confection – try
just eating one – was
invented in Ottoman times (1777).

Lokum is made of a gel of
starch and sugar sprinkled with icing sugar.It may also contain coconut, hazelnut, and even rosewater
flavourings.It is the precursor to the American jelly bean (Boston 1861)!!!

The shop in the old city offers tasters.Another excellent store is Safran Tat on the east
side of the Sadri Artunc circle next to the petrol station in the upper
town.

The baklava were delicious!In fact, Safran Tat may be one of the best
places in the country.It’s time to fuel
up for your next Ottoman Delight, Yörük,
in our next post.

Wednesday, 4 March 2015

Safranbolu Essence

Safranbolu Surprise

Safranbolu's quiet, picturesque setting is lined with
timber-framed Ottoman houses and mosques set among green fields and hills.Plus one can visit other Ottoman towns in the
area. One of the most-see villages is Yörük, which will be described in a later post.

Is Safranbolu a must-see? Which place in Turkey is the best to see Ottoman houses? We asked the same question in a previous posts about:

Cumalıkızık
– a formerly poor, small Ottoman village now overrun with tourists;

Getting to
Safranbolu

As we explained in our Turkey
- Getting Started advice on travel pace, for a car trip it is
preferable to plan for about 3 driving hours between each hotel stay, which
allows sightseeing stops on the way.If you are coming from Istanbul it
will take at least 4.5 hours – depending on traffic in Istanbul– to drive to Safranbolu,
414 km away.

﻿

Our drive from Göreme to Safranbolu was one of the
longest segments of our 31-day trip –
512 km.According to Google this should take about 6 hours driving time.In fact, we left at 09:00 h and arrived at
15:30 h.It
was also the most boring scenery so we did not stop to admire views or take photos.

﻿

About the only thing that happened was at a rest
area.We noticed a family, especially
women dressed in black burqa (completely covered face).We thought they were Syrian refugees.Two of their young children came over
to our car begging for money and would not go away.They did not look poor.The
family of eight had just parked their over-sized mini-van and ordered a large lunch from the
restaurant.They sat outside on the
grass to eat.

Raşitler Bağ Evi

Raşitler Bağ Evi

﻿We
had debated for a while whether to stay in one of the Ottoman pensions in the
old city.If you don't have a car that
would be your best option.But the raves
for Raşitler Bağ Evi pension on
Trip Advisor convinced us, even though it is on the northern outskirts of this
small town.

So
it was late afternoon by the time we got to the town.We managed to turn left onto Sadri Artung
Caddesi, a major boulevard to the Bağlar (Turkish for “orchards”) district.But then our "saved" Google map disappeared
on us.Add to that, the lack of road
signs and – we were lost! p.s.: finding our way back over the next two days was easy.

﻿

So
we stopped at a grocery store and asked for directions.We did not think they knew our small pension,
so we asked for nearby Değirmenbaşi Mosque.A customer who spoke a little English heard our request and offered to
go with us to ensure we found it. We
told him we were actually looking for Raşitler Bağ Evi and he said he knew the
Colonel (the owner)!What a small
world!!!

﻿

Umran

﻿

Country House

Bağ
Evi means country house, since this used to be an orchard outside of town in
the old days.Our first view is
captivated by lovely hand-cut stone walls.This 280-year old Ottoman house has been in Umran’s family for nine
generations.

﻿

Umran & Erhan

The
minute we arrived we sensed warmth and friendliness.We felt like we were friends in their home
rather than guests of a B&B.We
spent a lot of time talking with them. Umran is a retired high school teacher
and Erhan is a retired Air Force colonel.They are very sincere people.A
few years ago they restored this old family home – and what a place it is!

﻿﻿

Bağ Evi Parlour

﻿﻿

As
in Ottoman times, we had to remove our shoes to walk inside on the old wood
floors.The four guest rooms are on the
second floor, which has its own parlour and even a traditional reading
nook.

﻿

Bağ Evi Bedroom

﻿

What a magnificent bedroom with
rich dark wood floor and ceiling.We
loved the wood niches in the antique "wall system" and the colourful carpets.

﻿﻿

Bağ Evi Water Closet

What
a difference a day makes. Yesterday, the
Göreme bathroom
was as large as a small pension.Today’s
bathroom is closet size and the shower goes right onto the bathroom floor.Maybe that’s the origin of the British word “water closet” meaning bathroom.

In
short, you not only get a nice place to stay, you get a feel for a typical
Ottoman house that can compete with any museum. Plus you can learn about Turkish life and
culture by talking with the Hangun family. This was one of our favourite places to stay
in our whole trip in Turkey. So is Safranbolu a must-see? It is worth going just to stay at Raşitler Bağ Evi.

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About Us

The purpose of this blog is to ignite your
sense of wonder and help you appreciate travelling and learning about the world. It covers art, architecture, culture and traditions that are
relevant to travel. Interesting stories highlight how one culture has impacted another culture.

We have lived and travelled around the world, particularly in Europe (7 years), North and Central America. We have led courses and seminars on travel and culture appreciation at the University of Alberta, Grant MacEwan Univ. and the Edmonton Convention Centre. We plan all of our trip itineraries by computer.